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King James’s School in Knaresborough has paid tribute to former headteacher John Forster, who has died.

Mr Forster was in charge of the school for 16 years from 1981 to 1997.

The school issued a statement saying how sad it was to learn of his death. Mr Forster had remained a part of the school and the wider Knaresborough community well after he left the school.  The school’s tribute went on to say:

“In his time at the school he was responsible for starting the Knaresborough Fun Run, which ran with great success for very many years. He also established a school farm, complete with pigs and goats, which remained until 2004. His passion for his subject, English, kept him in the classroom, even as a busy headteacher.

“In 1990 he brought back the school magazine, The Chaloner, which had been dormant since 1974. His other great passion, tennis, allowed him to retain his connection to the school beyond his retirement.

“He devoted his considerable energy to the school long after his time as headteacher and we will miss his passion and enthusiasm.”

Mr Forster was also a chairman of Knaresborough Tennis Club, who led the bid to establish the tennis facilities that the school has today.

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A Passion for tennis

John Forster had a love of tennis.  As headteacher of King James’s School he championed the sport to the point where the school’s teams reached national and regional finals.

in 1985 he enthusiastically supported the founding of Knaresborough Tennis Club and offered the school’s facilities for the club to use.

In 2007, when Mr Forster was elected club chairman he pushed the idea of a new club wholly based at the school.  The courts needed serious improvement but the project got the approval of the club, the school and the Lawn Tennis Association and the newly named Knaresborough King James’s Tennis Club was created.

In a tribute to John Forster, Ian Hargreaves, Knaresborough King James’s Tennis Club membership secretary said:

“John’s perseverance was key in getting the project completed in April 2011 to the satisfaction of all parties. After over 11 years of play on the new courts, club, school and LTA are very happy with the relationship, and optimistic that tennis opportunities in Knaresborough have now been guaranteed for the foreseeable future.

“Had the project not been brought to successful fruition, the club and organised tennis in Knaresborough would probably not have survived. The club has now outgrown its three courts, and four multi-use tennis/netball courts have been upgraded to cater for the increased demand.”

Mr Forster continued as club chairman until 2018 and was a committee member responsible for school liaison until his death.  Mr Hargreaves continued:

“John’s invaluable contribution to tennis did not stop at Knaresborough. He was a councillor of the Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Association from 1999 to 2016 and had been president of the YLTA on two occasions. His special responsibility on the YLTA council was tennis in schools, and he was enthusiastic in organising, and persuading others to organise, schools’ competitions across the county.

“John will be much missed by the Yorkshire tennis world.”